2016 British Champions Day: Fascinating ready to Rock again in Champion Stakes

Almanzor the big hope for France

French raider Almanzor is a colt of the highest order and comes into British Champions Day on the back of four straight success.

They include a smooth success in the French Derby at Chantilly and a very impressive 3/4 length victory over Found in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown when last seen in action.

This Jean-Claude Rouget trained three-year-old was awesome in the latter, coming from well off the pace before showing a blistering turn of foot to score with more in hand than the winning margin suggests.

It was a performance which marked Almanzor out as something special and he seems to be improving with every race.

The son of Wootton Bassett is also versatile as regards ground and has a rock solid profile which entitles him to the utmost respect.

Stats against Arc heroine Found

Found gained a deserved big race success when running out an impressive winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly, but the stats are against the Aidan O’Brien trained four-year-old following-up.

The last 14 Arc winners to race again in the same season have all been beaten in their next start.

It’s also 23 years since a winner of the prestigious French contest went on to land another prize in the same season, with that honour falling to All Along, who won the Canadian International two weeks later in 1983.

Those are worrying stats for supporters of Found, who has had just 13 says to recover from her exploits in France.

This daughter of Galileo also has work to do on the book to beat Almanzor and Fascinating Rock, but Found is trained by a genius and seems sure to make her presence felt.

Related

You’ll find recommended race-by-race British Champions Day bets on the Ascot page of Coral news prior to the flat season’s big finale.

Coral’s top tip: Fascinating Rock has plenty going for him and looks worth a wager to retain his crown. French raider Almanzor is on serious upward curve and rates the biggest danger.